


Fall to Your Knees (Bring On the Rapture)

by ThoseWhoFavorFire



Series: Just One Mistake (To Dust or To Gold) [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Daredevil (TV), Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Civil War Plotline, In which Matt and Steve continue to be idiots, M/M, My take on it anyway, Somewhere between the comic canon and mcu canon, The Defenders make an apperance, post-AoU, post-season one of Daredevil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-18 22:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7332826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThoseWhoFavorFire/pseuds/ThoseWhoFavorFire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>"Fall to your knees, bring on the rapture/ Blessed be the boys time can't capture/ On film or between the sheets/ I always fall from your window to the pitch-black streets/ And with the black banners raised/ As the crooked smiles fade/ Former heroes who quit too late."</em>
</p><p>Title and idea inspired by The Kids Aren't Alright- Fall Out Boy<br/>Now that Bucky has been found and a civil war has broken out between pro registration and anti registration heroes, things between Steve and Matt only continue to grow more complicated. As they put their lives on the line working with the Secret Avengers it gets harder and harder to deny feelings for each other.<br/>Alternating Perspectives between Matt and Steve. Perspective change is clearly noted as are time skips. Takes place over January through April (as of current update).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fall to Your Knees (Bring On the Rapture)

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is! The update a year later than it should have been. I was waiting for my lovely beta to look over the part I intended to publish and ended up writing more so it's your lucky day. I hope you all enjoy my take on the Civil War plotline. I think it falls somewhere between the comic canon and the MCU canon. Thank you all for sticking with me.  
> As always, thanks to my amazing roommate, beta reader and platonic wife Gunmetal_Crown. This update never would have gone up without her.  
> Without further ado, enjoy!

**Steve Rogers**

_January 20 th _

Everyone had wanted to come with him. They were all worried, concerned that the Winter Soldier could try to hurt their friend or that this was someone just laying a trap for Steve. They had all agreed to keep a respectful distance.

Steve had insisted Matt should go to work. After all, there had been no time in the note. Steve had to get to the bar bright and early and Matt couldn’t exactly sit around in Daredevil attire during broad daylight. So, they parted ways at the door with a kiss and a promise from Steve that he would call Matt as soon as he knew what was happening. Matt didn’t exactly seem happy about it, but things had been a little tense between them lately.

Natasha, Clint, and Sam were all in civilian clothing close enough to be of help if he needed it but far enough away not to cause Bucky (or Steve) any unnecessary stress.

Sitting in the Brooklyn Bar, Steve spent the morning nursing a drink and trying to not obsess over if Bucky was going to be there or not.

( _This is crazy; he’s definitely not coming. Why do I keep looking for someone who doesn’t want to be found?_ )

One hour turned into two, which turned into three and then four. Steve felt like he was holding his breath. All the time sitting alone in the bar was just an empty stretch of time to think. Steve didn’t want to think, had been busy enough to not have time to think about his complicated relationship with Matthew or his desperate hope that he could have Bucky back.

“Tensions continue to brew over legislation for superpower registration. Some people are calling for just people who are actively fighting crime to be registered and regulated, while others believe anyone with superpowers should be registered,” the television droned.

Steve sighed, looking up as the television screen panned to include another newscaster on the screen.

“This is a serious issue. I don’t see why this sort of legislation hasn’t been introduced sooner. There needs to be some sort of regulation of these sort of things,” the man said firmly.

( _And then there is this. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate._ )

“I think some people think it’s a privacy violation."

“A privacy violation? This is a matter of _accountability_. We have people who fight crime, they are called police officers. When they do something wrong, they can be held accountable.”

“Yes but you can’t deny that sometimes the police aren’t suited to handle super powered villains. We need heroes.”

“Yes well-”

“Can you change the channel?” Steve asked, trying not to draw too much attention to himself but knowing if he had to listen to this any longer he might actually have to punch something. Or someone. Maybe Tony, that would be a relief.

“Sure, preferences?”

“A sports channel?”

“Which one?”

“Any one.”

Steve sighed in relief as the man settled on a station that was decidedly not talking about the superhero registration act that had recently been introduced. With tensions running so high and conflicting opinions within the team, Steve had moved out of Avenger’s tower and was officially living full time at Matthew’s apartment. Sure, he had begun to rent a small, shitty apartment where he kept some of his stuff but there was no question of where he went “home” every night.

Suddenly, there was a person sitting on the bar stool next to Steve’s.

Steve sat there for a moment, frozen and wondering if it was just a dream. He didn’t look up from his drink. “You’re late.”

“I can’t be late. I didn’t give a time.”

“You really are here,” Steve said in disbelief as he looked up and saw the disgruntled looking, shaggy haired soviet assassin that he had looking for. Underneath it all, it was still Bucky. He could tell.

“I really am.”

“What took you so long?”

Instead of answering, Bucky pulled him into a tight hug. The man seemed tense, wary and on edge, but he seemed less likely to bolt after they pulled apart from the hug.

They really couldn’t talk about the things they needed to out in public and Bucky had to worry about the potential of someone being on to him. They left to bar, Steve signaling Natasha to give them space as he headed for the small Brooklyn apartment that he had been to only a handful of times since renting it a few weeks before.

The space would serve as a good place for Bucky to hide out. Suddenly, Steve found he had a reason to go back to his own apartment more than once every few weeks to pay rent.

( _Just one more person I care about as war brews on the horizon_.)

 

**Matthew Murdock**

_February 14th_

Unlike most superheroes, Matt had never been on great terms with the police. That was the main difference, really, he was a _vigilante_ , not a superhero. Still, for quite a while Matt had an understanding with the police. He dropped off incapacitated bad guys on their front doorstep and they didn’t shoot at him. Even though he hadn’t expected this fragile peace to last forever, he had to admit that getting shot by a police officer had surprised him. It shouldn’t surprise him, but he supposed he had gotten complacent. Maybe Steve’s optimism had begun to rub off on him.

( _What if I never see Steve again._ )

Steve, fuck. He had to get to Steve. At best, Steve could take care of the wound while they waited for Claire to get there. At worst…well, he’d rather be with Steve than bleed out alone in the middle of the street in Hell’s Kitchen.

He grunted, stumbling against the wall and dialing Steve’s number.

“Matt?” came a disgruntled, sleepy greeting.

“Steve,” he said in relief. His breathing was uneven and jagged as he tried to ignore the pain radiating from his leg.

Suddenly Steve sounded a lot more alert. “What happened?”

He could hear Steve’s voice growing louder, more frantic, but Matt was suddenly overcome by the sensory overload. His overactive senses too consumed by a mix of too much pain as the adrenaline wore off. He didn’t make out any more words as his vision grew fuzzy and everything went black.

~

“Of all the stupid, _idiotic_ superhumans in New York…”

As Matt came back to consciousness, slowly and painfully, the first thing he heard was the sound of Steve’s voice followed by his footsteps pacing back and forth across the room.

“Of course I come to care about one of the only ones who routinely gets severely injured. I thought his new suit of armor was bullet proof. Why was he running around in this old one?”

“You know how stubborn Matt is. You are the one living with him, shouldn’t _you_ be the one to know why he isn’t in his good suit.” Claire’s voice rang out clearly, with an edge of accusation in the latter half of it. He could hear Steve slow his pace, his breath catching a little but not offering an explanation or a response. Matt could feel Claire changing his bandages and checking the wound. “Steve, you do know I’m a nurse, not a surgeon. I can’t keep pulling bullets out of people.”

Steve sighed audibly, his footsteps coming to a halt. “I’m sorry Claire. I just, I couldn’t let him die and I couldn’t bring him to a hospital. Especially not these days. You know that.”

“Ow,” Matt muttered as he tried to sit up. He was met with Steve making a sound of protest and Claire sitting back down next to him with a huff.

“You are so lucky your soldier boy got to you and contacted me in time.”

Matt groaned, trying to readjust the pillow beneath his head and only managing to cause pain to shoot through him. He took a few shallow breathes, trying to take stock of how bad the damage had been. “Yeah, guess I’m just lucky like that.”

“If you weren’t dying, I would kill you myself for your sheer stupidity,” Steve said with a sigh, taking Claire’s place next to Matt.

“No, you wouldn’t,” Matt said with a small smirk.

“No, I wouldn’t,” Steve responded ruefully, rubbing his hands over his face. Matt had a theory that Steve hadn’t been sleeping long before he called and probably hadn’t gotten any sleep since then. He supposed that was to be expected.

“Besides, thanks to me you aren’t dying,” Claire chipped in. She smelled like the hospital and had the familiar hint to her voice that told Matt that she probably had already pulled a double at the hospital before coming here. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

“Good to know I’ll be making it through the night. How bad is the damage?”

“Could have been worse. Thigh wound, right below where the thigh meets your hip. Missed the artery and,” she paused with a small snort, “all the important bits. I’m sure Steve’s glad for that.”

Steve nearly chocked on the water he was taking a sip of, something that clearly amused Claire even more than her own comment. 

“Do me a favor and take a week off, Matt. I know you have advanced healing or, at least, weird meditation stuff that makes you heal fast, but you really could use the break.”

Before Matt could say anything in protest, she slapped him upside the head. “I’m _serious,_ Matt. I’m not above making your boyfriend restrain you.”

“It’s not like he listens to me,” Steve responded, clearly choosing to ignore the boyfriend comment. Matt was more than happy to ignore it as well.

“Yeah, whatever, just try to keep him from pulling any other stupid stunts in the next few hours, will you? Some of us are human and require sleep to function.”

“Thank you, Claire,” Matt said, starting to sit up. He twisted, reaching for the glass of water Steve had put on the side table next to the couch.

Then everything went white with searing pain as he had the sensation of being shot right in the chest. He dropped back down on the couch, hitting it hard, and suddenly he was consumed by the need to _breathe_. There was shouting, from both Claire and Steve, but Matt was so busy trying to breathe that he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Suddenly there was a needle being precisely jabbed into his chest below the second rib and he was no longer completely unable to take in any oxygen. Over the years, Matt has had quite a few near death experiences, but he would have to mark down _whatever_ that was as one of the worst ways he could imagine dying.

“Congratulations,” Claire said, rubbing her temples to make her best attempt at fending off the ever growing headache forming there. “You almost died twice in one night, that must be some sort of record for you.”

~

Even once Claire was gone, Matt had Steve fussing over him.

“Steve, I’m really fine.”

“Says the man who took a bullet to the leg and apparently didn’t feel the fact that he took a bullet to the chest as well was worth mentioning.”

Matt made a noise in protest, “It hit the black part of my armor, bullet proof. Didn’t slow me down at all, thought nothing of it.”

“Good to know internal damage doesn’t bother you until it’s literally causing you to suffocate. I could have happily gone my whole life without knowing what a tension pneumothorax was.” Steve had gone back to pacing the length of the apartment. He had walked the same path so many times that Matt was pretty sure he had to be wearing a path into the floor. Sure, tonight didn’t contain his finest moments. Still, he had delivered the bad guy to the police and that was what really mattered, right?

Finally stopping, Steve moved back over and sat down in the chair he had pulled up next to the couch. He sighed heavily, like the world was weighing down on his shoulders. That was the thing about Steve though. He was like Atlas, single handedly trying to hold up the entire world. Matt knew Steve couldn’t take a break, couldn’t walk away from his worries and responsibilities. Still, Matt couldn’t help but miss Steve. They’d barely seen each other at all in the last month.

After a few minutes of uneasy silence, Steve finally spoke up. “Matt, for Christ’s sake, what happened to you tonight? Why weren’t you wearing your good armor?”

Matt ran a hand through his hair, keeping most of his focus on regulating his breathing and making sure he exerted enough control over his body that his damn wounds would heal as quickly as possible. It would scar, certainly wouldn’t be pretty, but it was better than being out of commission for weeks during an unstable time like this.

Still, he turned slightly towards Steve, only wincing a little when he tried to give him a non-committal shrug. “It was a pretty normal night at first. Chased down some non-powered bad guys, beat a few people up. I dragged the ringleader to the cops and was ready to leave when suddenly there were cops shooting at me like _I_ was the bad guy.”

Matt paused as Steve took his hand. He was pretty sure it was an unconscious gesture on Steve’s part, but it still caught Matt off guard. He squeezed Steve’s hand reassuringly when he went to pull away, desperate for even the slightest amount of contact with Steve. “Caught a bullet to the chest since I wasn’t prepared for them to start shooting at me. I know these guys, I’ve helped them a millions of times but with-”

“The Registration Act,” Steve cut in grimly, knowing exactly where this was going.

“Exactly. They’ve already set into place tough against vigilante regulations apparently, which is news to me despite the fact that I work with cops and lawyers every day during my day job. Anyway, I fled and caught a bullet to my thigh in the not-so-bulletproof part of my suit, called you and woke up here.” Matt paused, considering that for the first time since waking up, “Wait, how _did_ you find me.”

Steve fiddled with his dog tags in that telltale way that Matt had learned he always did when he was feeling guilty or stressed about something.

“Steve?” Matt prompted when he still hadn’t received a response.

Steve sighed. “How mad would you be if I told you I had Nat put GPS trackers in all your Daredevil gear?”

“Steve!”

“What? I was worried. Only I have access to the tracking, obviously. I-” He broke off, clearly stopping himself from finishing whatever sentence he didn’t want to say. That or he simply didn’t know how that sentence was supposed to finish.

Matt found himself at a loss for words. A predicament he was facing more and more with Steve lately. As time stretched on there was more and more that Matt wanted to say to Steve and less and less that he was able to say.

A few beats of silence later Steve went to pull away but Matt caught him by the wrist. “I’m sorry,” Matt said, voice barely above a whisper. Then, when Steve still seemed ready to move away, “Stay.”

So Steve settled back into the chair.

“I’m sorry,” Matt repeated. “Melvin was fixing up my suit and I decided to go out anyway. It was stupid and I’m sorry I worried you.”

Matt was almost sure they were going to sit there in silence again, but Steve finally responded, his voice unsteady with held back emotion, “I thought we were going to lose you there.”

“You didn’t.”

“We could have.”

“I’m sorry.”

They sat there for quite some time in an unspoken peace. Matt took what he could get, just enjoying the fact that Steve was right next to him, their fingers entwined together as Steve’s thumb rubbed gentle circles into Matt’s.

What could have been minutes or hours later, Steve got up to get Matt some water. Matt reached over and grabbed his phone so he could tell Foggy that everything was fine but he wouldn’t be into work in the morning. He accidently brushed against the button on the side of the phone and the device mechanically recited the date and time.

“February 14th. 3:42 am.”

( _Well fuck. Happy fucking Valentine’s Day._ )

 

**Steve Rogers**

_March 1 st _

Sitting on the edge of the roof in his latest apartment, Steve couldn’t help but wonder how they had gotten here. Today was the day. Today was the day registration would be fully implemented. He watched the rising sun, at least something that remained constant in these crazy, unsure times. As Captain America, he had fought a lot of wars, won a lot of battles. This wasn’t the first time he would technically be going up against the US government. No, that seemed to happen more and more. Still, this would be the first time he would be waging a full scale long term war with them. This was absolutely unacceptable. People’s rights, their liberties, were being taken away from them.

Sure, he understood why people were concerned. There was that disaster with Nitro, a bunch of undertrained heroes working for TV show ratings rather than to actually save people. Still, many people operated under secret identity to keep themselves and their families safe. Sometimes these people even needed to hold the government accountable, like with this registration act.

Unmasked heroes didn’t have the same ability to hold people accountable without their own lives being uprooted. Steve of all people would know. He’s spent the last month in hiding and would continue to be in hiding until he either won or was captured.

They had to fight. They had to win. There was so many people’s lives and livelihoods’ at stake. Like Matt...

Steve was suddenly brought sharply back to the present when a gentle hand came down on his shoulder. He kept warning Bucky that surprising him like that might lead to him sucker punching the other man, but Bucky only would respond with a shrug of his shoulders and a casual response like, “I definitely deserve it. Besides, you could use a way to let off some steam.”

Instead of hashing out that fight once more, Steve turned to face his friend with a raised eyebrow. He was glad to have Bucky with him. He knew Bucky would be just as happy to lay low and let the Registration Act blow over, but Steve was getting into a fight and Bucky would never not have his back. It didn’t matter if it was back alley fights or full scale wars, they were strong side by side.

“It’s time. They’re all here,” Bucky said with a small frown. Steve got up, following Bucky back through the nearly entirely abandoned apartment complex to the subbasement where they were all gathered.

It wasn’t easy to find a place where so many people could gather. He wasn’t sure how he would even be managing this without Clint and Natasha. For the most part, they were the ones establishing all the safe houses, meeting places and alerting everyone to when meetings were taking places (mostly through dead drops from what he could tell).

He walked into the room and all eyes turned to him. He was happy, if wary, to see a few new people had joined their cause. This was probably the largest group of people they had assembled yet. Jessica Jones clearly had brought Luke Cage with her. Steve would never have met those two if it wasn’t for Claire. He certainly appreciated having them on the team. Ms. Marvel hadn’t been able to make it to a meeting yet, but apparently she managed to get away for this one. Iron Fist and Doctor Strange were both new, but he trusted that Natasha and Clint had done a thorough job making sure they weren’t double agents working for the pro-registration camp.

Of course, there were the very familiar faces as well. Clint and Natasha directing people and talking over a laid out map of New York City. Bucky walking over and rejoining Sam and Black Panther’s animated debate over something.

There were just so many people gathered, he was actually a little surprised. He shouldn’t be, he reminded himself. They were on the right side of things. Of course people wanted to protect themselves and the ones they cared about. He reached the front of the group, watching as people’s individual conversations trailed off as all eyes fell on him. These people trusted him. He wasn’t exactly clear on what he had done to earn that trust, but he was grateful for it nevertheless.

Just before he began, he saw Matt in his Daredevil suit push out of the shadows and settle into a chair directly in Steve’s line of sight. It was a relief to see him, it had to be over a week since the last time they were even in the same borough, nonetheless the same room. Still, he couldn’t focus on Matt now. He had a meeting to start and plans to discuss.

“Welcome to our first official meeting as the Secret Avengers,” he said, pausing as the last of the voices died out from the group. He wasn’t the one who picked the name, but he supposed it fit them all well enough. “I’d like to thank you all for being here. These are difficult times and I know that it’s hard to trust anyone right now, especially other superheroes. We are all here, united, under a common cause. Registration must be stopped, no matter the cost. Clint, Nat, what’s the current plan?”

Although Steve was more than happy to help lead the meeting, giving his opinions on tactics and strategy when needed, he was grateful that he had such a strong team to fall back on and help him carry the weight. Natasha spent the first few minutes of the meeting laying out where the current pro-registration hero patrols were according to her and Clint’s reconnaissance. There were guidelines of what areas to avoid, reminders of how to deal with bad guys anyone does take down (left restrained for the police to find), and little devices handed out. Said devices were panic buttons, a call to arms for the rest of the Secret Avengers if anyone was in danger. When people from the group raised concerns, Steve himself reassured everyone that the panic button was completely option to take and that the device was off until someone pressed the panic button. If you were the one pressing the button, then and only then would GPS be turned on so everyone else’s device would alert them to where you were so help would be on the way. It was a good system, one that could keep them all coordinated without jeopardizing anyone. Of course, if any pro-registration hero got their hands on it, a trap could be set so everyone had to be careful and let one of the core group know if their device was taken.

Still, the safety of the members of the group vastly outweighed any risks they would be taking and everyone who decided to take a panic button agreed wholeheartedly.

The meeting continued without any more questions or hiccups. Thankfully, the meeting was prompt and didn’t drag on, allowing everyone to disperse in no time. Steve stayed at the front of the room, feeling Matt’s gaze weighing on him as he lingered and discussed the last few points about the meeting with Clint and Natasha.

Suddenly, the feeling of being watched was gone. Steve turned around, scanning the room and not finding Matt. He excused himself, which took several minutes more than what he would have liked considering he was stopped every few feet by a hero with a question. When he finally made it back to the apartment he was currently calling home despite how rundown and makeshift the place was, Steve found himself surprised by Matt pressing him back against a wall.

Matt pinned him with a kiss, conveying both his frustration and impatience, and Steve kissed him back with just as much pent up emotion.

“You should be more careful, someone else might try to kill you instead of kiss you,” Matt mumbled with a smirk against Steve’s lips.

Steve responded by nipping at Matt’s bottom lip. Matt groaned as Steve pulled him closer, both of them desperate for that contact.

( _What are we doing here?_ )

Pulling away from the kiss, Steve felt like time itself slowed down as Matt turned his attention to Steve’s neck. It was too much and too little all at once. They needed each other but neither of them could be with each other, not fully, not in the ways that they wanted to be. Steve was practically running a secret militia of superheroes and Matt was doing his best to fight registration the legal way with Foggy and Karen while also trying to help Steve and the Secret Avengers. Even before registration, they couldn’t really be together and now…

“We can’t do this.” Steve said, his voice a lot less sure than he wanted it to be.

Matt froze, pulling completely away. Despite how quickly Matt hid it, Steve didn’t miss the look of hurt that crossed the other man’s features. “Can’t do what, Steve?”

“ _This._ ”

“What is this, Steve? We’ve never been clear on that. The sex? The living together?”

Steve rubbed his hands over his face, trying to clear his thoughts and separate what he wanted from what needed to happen. “All of it, Matt. Whatever this is, whatever we were, we can’t do it anymore.”

“ _Why_?” Matt crossed his arms. Steve knew this would be difficult, but now he just wished he hadn’t said anything and go back to kissing this idiotic man he had come to care for.

( _Dammit, the man I have come to love._ )

“We just can’t. It isn’t good for either of us.”

“It was good for me,” Steve heard Matt mutter as he turned to walk away.

“Wait, Matt,” Steve said, reaching out and catching Matt’s wrist. “Don’t leave. We really should talk about this.”

“Save it, Steve. I know not to stay where I’m not wanted.” He jerked his hand away from Steve, and Steve let his hand drop back to his side.

Steve wasn’t sure how he had expected that interaction to go, but making Matt think that this what Steve wanted to do was never the goal.

He walked downstairs, finding Clint, Natasha, Bucky, and Sam still gathered around a table with drinks. Steve sat down heavily, feeling like he had just lost something he never really realized he had. Clint seemed to go to say something, but was silenced with a look from Natasha. She turned her gaze back to Steve, giving him a once over and passing him the strongest bottle of liquor they had (the stuff from Asgard, the stuff they had gotten from Thor back when the Avengers were still a team and they were all friends, the stuff that could actually get Captain America completely and totally wasted.)

Steve was grateful, despite the hangover the next morning, that he couldn’t remember anything from the rest of that night.

( _If only I couldn’t remember the look on Matt’s face before he left._ )

 

**Matthew Murdock**

_April 22 nd _

It had been nearly two months and Matt really thought he ought to be commended for his clearly amazing talent at avoiding Steve Rogers. Some people would think that this would be easy, given that New York City is a big place and Steve was actively in hiding.

However, those people did not take into consideration that Matt was working as Daredevil for the very group that Steve ran. It took some finagling, there were some close calls early on as he stopped attending meetings and tried to get all his missions from Clint. Karen and Foggy were almost certain he wouldn’t last a week avoiding Steve, but they had been wrong.

( _Thankfully they were around that night to pick up the pieces._ )

It was a lot easier once he ran into Jessica Jones and Luke Cage while out doing his normal patrol as Daredevil. After the first couple of times they took down bad guys in Hell’s Kitchen together, it was inevitable to deny that they were a good team. All parties were reluctant, but they started teaming up a few times a week. Then Iron Fist ended up stumbling into their neighborhood and team and it all kind of fell into place. Matt didn’t have to directly interact with the Secret Avengers at all. Luke and Jessica went to all the meetings and told him and Iron Fist where to be and when.

“Look,” Karen said, holding up the latest issue of _The Daily Bugle_ to Foggy.

“Foggy?” Matt prompted.

“It’s the front news story. There is a picture of you, Power Man, Power Woman, and Iron Fist. May I say your newest suit captures very nicely on camera. The headline reads ‘The Defenders of Hell’s Kitchen’ with a byline stating ‘Why These Masked Vigilantes Shouldn’t Have to Reveal Their Identities.’ I didn’t know you guys had an official team name. The Defenders. It’s pretty catchy. I like it.”

Matt cocked his head, noticing Karen’s heart speed up as Foggy read from it. She was waiting for Matt’s reaction. “Karen, tell me you didn’t.”

“I did.”

“Foggy, did you know about this?”

“Hey, leave me out of this. Some of us have work to do.”

Unfortunately, he was pretty sure this wouldn’t be the last time the news wrote things about the newly dubbed Defenders. Still, it was kind of refreshing to see a positive news piece on masked heroes, so he couldn’t really complain.

~

The Defenders were out again that night, quickly and efficiently rounding up and incapacitating a group of new drug dealers who were attempting to make a move into Hell’s Kitchen. With the way the Defenders had been operating, all of the drug dealers had been cleared out of the area so it was currently an open market. A lot of groups were trying to move in despite the risk of being caught by the Defenders. It was a pain, but actually a refreshing break from fighting other super-powered individuals.

They had just finished tying up the perps and fleeing before the cops arrived. They were going to all go their separate ways for the night (Jessica and Luke back to Luke’s new bar and Iron Fist off to God only knows where), when they all felt the device they all kept on themselves at all times buzzing.

“This is the first time anyone’s called for help,” Iron Fist remarked, pulling the small device out of his suit.

“It must be serious then,” Luke said, eyeing his own device and pressing one of the buttons on the side of it to display coordinates. “And the alert is coming from nearby.”

Jessica crossed her arms, silencing her device and putting it back in her pocket, “It could be a trap. I never liked the idea of these devices anyway.”

“Besides, I’m sure plenty of people are already on their way to help,” Matt reasoned, thinking about Steve. Then again, any other help might be too far away to get there in time.

Luke raised an eyebrow, “You guys aren’t seriously considering not going, are you?”

Jessica sighed, “You totally are going, dammit. Fine, if you’re going I am going.”

“Daredevil?” Iron Fist asked.

“Well-”

“Can’t avoid your boyfriend forever,” Jessica cut in with a smirk.

“I’m not. He’s not,” Matt sputtered, taking a deep breath. “Fine, what are we standing around for. There’s an ally in need of help.”

~

It turned out to be Cloak and Dagger. They had run into a sizable pro-registration patrol that were trying extremely hard to incapacitate the duo and drag them off to be arrested for not registering. From what Jessica and Luke had been reporting from the Secret Avengers meetings, Clint and Natasha had been unable to locate where they were holding the people that were captured. There were some very worrisome whispers of something called the Negative Zone being used to detain unregistered heroes and cancel out their powers, but there hasn’t been any confirmation of the rumors yet.

It was really a good thing the Defenders had made the decision to show up. They were the first responders to the alert, with the relief washing through Dagger practically vibrating through the air. Her attacks seemed to have new energy when she caught sight of the Defenders.

The Defenders all jumped into action, Jessica and Luke charging at She-Hulk. Luke got there first, She-Hulk grabbing his arm and sending him flying across the street right towards Matt. Matt dodged quickly, Luke sailing past him and into a dumpster. Matt didn’t worry about Luke, knowing he’d been through a lot worse. He didn’t have time to pay attention to the epic wrestling match happening between She-Hulk and Jessica. Instead, he was dodging knives being thrown at him by Blade.

( _You picked the wrong vigilante to target._ )

Matt had to admit that Blade was very good. This was the first time he had encountered the man, but he had heard a lot of whispers about him before. The gun hand definitely had to be new, undoubtable complements of S.H.I.E.L.D. That didn’t stop Blade from wielding that and his knives with ruthless efficiency. He was glad it was him and not one of his team members who didn’t have enhanced senses and the ability to anticipate the man’s attacks. Matt got a solid hit on him that sent the other man momentarily staggering, allowing Matt to take stock of how everyone else was doing.

Cloak and Dagger were doing a good job fending off Bishop while Iron Fist was easily dodging attacks from Mr. Fantastic. Matt couldn’t help but smile as he watched Cloak absorb Bishop’s energy blasts. Matt had been running into Cloak and Dagger quite a lot over the last year or so. Every time he did they seemed like a stronger team. She-Hulk was definitely stronger than Jessica, but she was being kept well occupied by the combined efforts of her and Luke.

Matt whirled around, hitting Blade hard enough to knock the man’s glasses off and managing to momentarily retrain him. He called out to Dagger, who turned to the two men and knew exactly what Matt needed. She generated light, blinding the half-vampire at least momentarily before she turned back to continue her onslaught on Bishop. A moment was all Matt needed, using his billy clubs to knock Blade out.

Just as he started to move to help Iron Fist with his fight against Mr. Fantastic, he heard the sound of familiar footsteps coming up behind them along with the characteristic swoosh of Captain America’s shield flying through the air towards Bishop.

Mister Fantastic stumbled back as Iron Fist got a good hit in. Sam flew overhead in his Falcon suit as She-Hulk was hit by one of Clint’s exploding arrows.

“We’re outnumbered almost three to one,” Mister Fantastic shouted to the others, “We should retreat. She-Hulk, grab Blade.”

“But,” Bishop protested, straightening up from where he had staggered back against the brick wall, stunned by Steve’s shield.

“ _Now_ ,” She-Hulk added, tossing Jessica into Luke and shooting Bishop a look that made him wilt a little and reluctantly follow.

Luke caught Jessica and set her back down on the ground. “Yeah, run away. You know you can’t take us,” she shouted after the fleeing pro-registration team. “Tell Sue I said hello, Reed. Oh, or did you lock your wife up too?”

The eleven Secret Avengers heroes watched as the group retreated, letting them go rather than pushing the fight even though they now had the advantage. It wouldn’t do them any good anyway. They weren’t the side taking prisoners.

“Everyone okay?” Steve asked and received many mumbles in agreement. Matt stayed silent, tense, with his back still turned to Steve. He wasn’t ready to talk with Steve again, wasn’t sure if he ever would be ready. There was nothing to say. Instead, he left, not failing to notice that Bucky physically held Steve back from following.

Matt stopped by his apartment, changing into civilian clothes and texting Karen and Foggy to meet him at Josie’s. Jessica and Luke showed up some time later in the night, several drinks passed Matt’s normal stopping point. Luke was the right balance of distracting and sympathetic, and Matt couldn’t help but commiserate with Jessica’s biting sarcasm. So they sat and they drank and Matt tried to not think about Steve.

( _I’ve never been good at avoiding what’s bad for me._ )

**Author's Note:**

> So now the inevitable storm hit, both in terms of the civil war plot and a "break-up" between Steve and Matt. Don't worry, I do in fact plan for there to be a happy ending for these idiots. As always, feedback is really appreciated. Thank you all for reading. This fic isn't complete, but I did want to post what I had at what I felt was a good stopping point. I should have the rest of this fic finished soon but I don't want to make any promises since I always seem to break them.


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